Sorsogon’s Mount Bulusan Erupts

Mount Bulusan, which is located in the province of Sorsogon in the Bicol Region, spewed ash around 11:35 am on Friday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs issued an eruption notification on its official Facebook account, saying that the Bulusan Volcano expelled ash cloud with an estimated height of 6,562 feet or 2,000 meters. The eruption ended at 11:40 am.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum, Jr said that the volcano’s eruption was “phreatic,” or caused by the heating and expansion of groundwater. The ash plume it produced was grayish and it drifted to Mount Bulusan’s western side.

“Local government units and the public are reminded that entry to the 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) is strictly prohibited due to the possibility of sudden and hazardous steam-driven or phreatic eruptions,” the Sorsogon PDRRMO posted on its official Facebook account.

“Residents outside the 4-kilometer area are safe, but must prepare for possible ashfall,” The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Solidum as saying in a phone interview.

The ashfall would most likely affect Juban town’s Puting Sapa village and Irosin’s Cogon village, according to Eduardo Laguerta of Phivolcs Legazpi.

Bulusan volcano commemorating the eruption of Pinatubo volcano in 1991. Slight reminder for all of us. https://t.co/BgLt7DuhDl

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